All things SNL

YGIFS · February 20

Yeah, he's rocking it. Good for him. I just don't quite get his allure. But then, I don't get much. If we take off our current-day blinders and watch him on SNL or even "Weird Science", lets be honest---he doesn't seem bound for stardom but he got a second and third act. I still don't get it. But he's obviously doing something right and I'm certainly not a showbiz scout. After 50 years, there is kind of a formula to post-SNL success but there are certainly plenty of outliers who should have made it big but didn't and then others who were duds that exploded into stardom. The show remains an enigmatic institution for a reason. It has propelled more people to fame and caused more premature deaths than any other pillar of our culture. I forget who said it but to this day nothing is anything until SNL has commented on it.

I guess I just came of age with it. Watching it with my father late at night when my mom had gone to bed and he told me not to tell her I was up late watching with him. I was probably 7 when I stayed up to finish an episode at midnight-Chicago Time. Then the Christopher Guest/Marty Short years. Then it got shitty again. And then all the kids at school bragged about being too busy to watch it on a Saturday night but along comes the Farley years. And then in college, we'd watch Farrell and company before heading to the bars. Then got married and watched Netflix & Chill. But still tune in and got to know some folks who work(ed) on the show. We are going to miss it when it's gone and we'll never be able to accurately explain to our children why this fake news thing was so damn funny to us as young people. It has has some absolutely horrific low-points and casts and spin-off movies and recurring characters. And it's certainly pissed off people of all political stripes at one time or another. But I never had a genuine laugh with my dad like I did during "Two Wild & Crazy Guys." The bellyache never felt like that again.

Herpa Derpa · February 20

I think a large part of the RDJ draw, particularly for those over the age of 35, is that he was a drug addled loser who destroyed an easy nepo career in Hollywood, who then scratched and crawled his way back to become the A+ of the A list. In another world, Iron Man is a decent little flick and seen as nothing more than a nice redemption story for RDJ. In this world, it became the launching point of a second career, this time without the self-destruction. He's a comeback kid who went from the gifted penthouse to the deserving sewer and made it back to an earned penthouse. America has always fallen for that story.

In cinema terms, he followed Iron Man with Tropic Thunder in the same year and the zeitgeist became his.

closetohumping · February 20

18 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Agree that "Ironman" franchise boosted that whole MCU deal. And he can certainly be funny. And charming. But I just never got his stardom level. And he sucked on SNL. But the guy is rocking it now, so good for him.

But yeah, the SNL machine has a weird machination. Some people who are incredibly talented leave the show and do absolutely jack-shit afterwards. Others leave the show and go orbital with their fame. The couple of writers I've known that worked there said that Lorne humbly claims to know who is gonna be a breakout and who is gonna be a dud, but after 50 years.......even he knows it's still something of a crap-shoot. Case in point---I think Sarah Sherman is one of the ten funniest human beings on the planet right now. But she could also get fired in two years and do dinner theater in Fort Myers. And other than a few funny segments, I never thought Adam Sandler was anything resembling funny. But he'll probably die a comedic billionaire. So what the fuck do we know?

I’m not real sure but he may have been on drugs then. Chris Farley as great on snl but he’s not in Downey league as far as an actor

my opinion again Downey has range, is the cool dude we want to be but not intimidating like say Chris hemsworth.

Downey is witty funny. Not caricatures like Sandler and Farley. Sometimes the latter does better in sketch comedy shows

and he’s certainly had rough roles that didn’t fit him like back to school and Johnny be good.

but he’s grown and elevated. I thought he was perfect for Ironman and stood out against your typical muscleheads like hemsworth and Evans.

Edited February 20 by closetohumping

Red Five · February 20

1 hour ago, Herpa Derpa said:

I think a large part of the RDJ draw, particularly for those over the age of 35, is that he was a drug addled loser who destroyed an easy nepo career in Hollywood, who then scratched and crawled his way back to become the A+ of the A list. In another world, Iron Man is a decent little flick and seen as nothing more than a nice redemption story for RDJ. In this world, it became the launching point of a second career, this time without the self-destruction. He's a comeback kid who went from the gifted penthouse to the deserving sewer and made it back to an earned penthouse. America has always fallen for that story.

In cinema terms, he followed Iron Man with Tropic Thunder in the same year and the zeitgeist became his.

I remember watching Downey in some kids show around probably 2004. He had a bit part in it that he was phoning in, and I remember telling my then-wife "Man, this guy could have been one of the greats, if not for drugs and booze."

mdmost · February 20

Sydney Sweeney hosting on March 2nd with Kacey Musgraves as the musical guest. Interested.

Red Five · February 21

I have some sketch ideas for that show.

YGIFS · February 21

Audiences totally dig it when chicks kiss and bump stuff, yo!

lateshow · February 22

18 hours ago, mdmost said:

Sydney Sweeney hosting on March 2nd with Kacey Musgraves as the musical guest. Interested.

You have my interest sir.

Herpa Derpa · February 22

On 2/20/2024 at 8:12 PM, Red Five said:

I have some sketch ideas for that show.

I have some costume ideas. Doesn't matter what the sketch is about.

henrygandorf · February 23

On 2/19/2024 at 6:48 PM, YGIFS said:

Yeah, he's rocking it. Good for him. I just don't quite get his allure.

how many iron man movies have you seen and why is that answer zero?

SameSame · February 25

That opening bit was long and full of zero laughs

HRSchenker · February 25

Holy shit this monologue is killing me!

JohnnyRage · February 25

Huge Shane Gillis fan, but that was pretty bad. Could have added context about quitting West Point football. Gonna be a huge backlash about leaning heavily on retard jokes (this is some of his best material about the volunteer work he does).

And his story about being canceled was the appropriate low hanging fruit, just ignored it.

JohnnyRage · February 25

Pretty great about the moment you stop becoming best friend's with you mom

DigDug · February 25

I liked the monologue and that Jamaican skit right after it.

RPM · February 25

He was nervous af. He and Sarah Sherman are a great team. You could tell they were having fun. Forrest Gump skit was good.

Edited February 25 by RPM

billfromlaketravis · February 25

Pretty mediocre. I guess the extra prep time really didn't help.

JohnnyRage · February 25

Monologue better upon second viewing just because I listen to MSSP. It's funny to see him bomb, and know what subtle touches he could have added.

It's also funny to see the progressive female rhythm guitarist not want to give up anything, but fight a smile. And the black bassist up front pretty much dying the whole time at someone who is supposedly a racist.

I missed all the sketches, until they are uploaded.

Helobious · February 25

5 minutes ago, JohnnyRage said:

Monologue better upon second viewing just because I listen to MSSP. It's funny to see him bomb, and know what subtle touches he could have added.

It's also funny to see the progressive female rhythm guitarist not want to give up anything, but fight a smile. And the black bassist up front pretty much dying the whole time at someone who is supposedly a racist.

I missed all the sketches, until they are uploaded.

You sound pretty stupid

JohnnyRage · February 25

Just now, Helobious said:

You sound pretty stupid

Thank you for your service.

AbeFroman · February 25

I did like the Gump skit, that's a great premise, they could have gone in a lot of directions with that.

GopherRock · February 25

Gump was the best skit of the night.

Shane was nervous to the point of being visibly rattled in the monologue. Also, I know humor is subjective, but his material wasn't landing at all.

4th&Five · February 25

The black history month joke during update was my only laugh of the night.

YGIFS · February 25

59 minutes ago, GopherRock said:

Gump was the best skit of the night.

Shane was nervous to the point of being visibly rattled in the monologue. Also, I know humor is subjective, but his material wasn't landing at all.

Yeah, he's just not a good ensemble comedic actor. No sin in that. His monologue actually had genuinely good material in it, he was just visibly/audibly nervous. I don't know if this was some grand scheme by Lorne or what. But I have been around enough established stand-ups in informal settings, there are people that are just brilliantly funny in their bones. It was something they always knew but weren't always able to translate it to a straight set. And there are great 'performer' standup comics who really aren't that funny but just silly storytellers who get some laughs through other means on stage.

I think of the Menuhin Competition, which is like the Olympics of the Violin (moves around every 4 years to different countries and is like the World Cup of Music). The judges tell me there are these set pieces that the young people rehearse and perform. And they usually nail it. And then they throw out these random pieces to play to see if the musician actually has the music in their bones. You can recite, or 'recital', your way through music, or comedy, or acting. But at some point...it's either in your bones or it's not. Shane is funny in his core, he sees the hilarity in real life, even in sadness. But it doesn't always land. His mirror opposite would be like a Dane Cook who is a great showman and performer and tells mundane stories in a really animated and fun way, but he has no funny core.

It's perhaps for the best that Shane wasn't hired full-time to SNL because he has a hilarious worldview of the shit in his life, but he just doesn't quite nail the showmanship part of it. No shame in that, he's had a great career and will continue to great things.

YGIFS · February 25

Well c'mon, Shane is funnier than the Wal-Mart break room. But it's a valid point overall. The beauty of Mel Brooks' "The History of the World" was it demonstrated how comedy comes in all shapes and sizes over different eras from the caveman dropping the rock to Hitler on Ice. The goofy ass Jerry Lewis' film "Funny Bones" speaks to it as well, though I never laughed at his material. And we're living through another evolution of funny with podcasts, and viral shows, and downloading sets, and more and more comics writing books or articles. But I like that Lorne has embraced more standup hosts in the last few years. They don't always work out in sketches, but then-neither do the famous actors he brings on as well. The paradox is the best comedians are unsure of themselves, hence the material. And so they don't always translate well to stage or screen. The funniest person, bar none, I've ever met or hung with is Gary Gulman. And he's got a decent presence. But he's just always nervous and paranoid and doesn't work well bouncing jokes off of others-hence he doesn't get to do SNL or even shitty movies. Shane may end up the same way. They kinda remind me of one another in that 1:1 or small groups or even standup specials, they nail it. But another person with another microphone is just something altogether different for them.

To get the thread back on track---I have it on good authority that Sydney Sweeney and Kacey Musgroves are totally gonna bump stuff.

billfromlaketravis · February 25

I think Yang’s Capote impression was decent. I hope he polishes it up. There’s some potential there.

Chuckie Finster · February 26

19 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Yeah, he's just not a good ensemble comedic actor. No sin in that. His monologue actually had genuinely good material in it, he was just visibly/audibly nervous. I don't know if this was some grand scheme by Lorne or what. But I have been around enough established stand-ups in informal settings, there are people that are just brilliantly funny in their bones. It was something they always knew but weren't always able to translate it to a straight set. And there are great 'performer' standup comics who really aren't that funny but just silly storytellers who get some laughs through other means on stage.

I think of the Menuhin Competition, which is like the Olympics of the Violin (moves around every 4 years to different countries and is like the World Cup of Music). The judges tell me there are these set pieces that the young people rehearse and perform. And they usually nail it. And then they throw out these random pieces to play to see if the musician actually has the music in their bones. You can recite, or 'recital', your way through music, or comedy, or acting. But at some point...it's either in your bones or it's not. Shane is funny in his core, he sees the hilarity in real life, even in sadness. But it doesn't always land. His mirror opposite would be like a Dane Cook who is a great showman and performer and tells mundane stories in a really animated and fun way, but he has no funny core.

It's perhaps for the best that Shane wasn't hired full-time to SNL because he has a hilarious worldview of the shit in his life, but he just doesn't quite nail the showmanship part of it. No shame in that, he's had a great career and will continue to great things.

The thing is, Shane has a number of SNL-esque (NSFW) sketches on Youtube that absolutely kill. He definitely has the skillset, even if it didn't land this weekend.

My working theory is that he doesn't fully love being the "Republican" comedian. He's good at hanging with the bros and shooting the shit, which is why he's developed the Barstool following, but I saw him in Houston a few months ago and he seemed noticeably uneasy by the very vocal right-wing attitude in the room. I thought it could have just been an off night for him, but seeing his reaction to the lukewarm SNL audience has given my theory another data point.

His two specials have been filmed in Austin and (just outside) Washington, DC, if that speaks to what audience demographic he prefers.

Edited February 26 by Chuckie Finster

bschoolprof · February 26

18 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I think Yang’s Capote impression was decent. I hope he polishes it up. There’s some potential there.

A Capote impression in 2024 struck me as an odd choice. He died in 40 years ago.

mdmost · February 26

1 minute ago, bschoolprof said:

A Capote impression in 2024 struck me as an odd choice. He died in 40 years ago.

There's a show on FX that just premiered that is Capote based, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans. It's based in New York.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1984119/

Al_4_ISU · February 26

29 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

The thing is, Shane has a number of SNL-esque (NSFW) sketches on Youtube that absolutely kill. He definitely has the skillset, even if it didn't land this weekend.

My working theory is that he doesn't fully love being the "Republican" comedian. He's good at hanging with the bros and shooting the shit, which is why he's developed the Barstool following, but I saw him in Houston a few months ago and he seemed noticeably uneasy by the very vocal right-wing attitude in the room. I thought it could have just been an off night for him, but seeing his reaction to the lukewarm SNL audience has given my theory another data point.

His two specials have been filmed in Austin and (just outside) Washington, DC, if that speaks to what audience demographic he prefers.

Yeah, I feel like his specials have taken enough shots at that crowd that they'd get the hint, but they only care that he was canceled from SNL due to an old racist tweet, and that basically puts you next to God in that crowd.

billfromlaketravis · February 26

53 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

A Capote impression in 2024 struck me as an odd choice. He died in 40 years ago.

Yeah the Swans show… but I wouldn’t say it’s in the zeitgeist. Yang is probably a fan, shocker, and his sketch made the show.

MissingInAction · February 26

A Heidi Gardner sex doll would get it.

PenelopeWitherspoon · February 27

The writing in the Yang Capote sketch was great. The frozen embryo from Alabama was good too.

Horn Under a Bad Sign · March 3

PSA: Sydney Sweeney and her magnificent mammaries are hosting tonight with Kacey Musgraves as the music.

Red Five · March 3

Don Johnson · March 3

For some reason this was cut from the show a couple of weeks ago.

billfromlaketravis · March 3

Well titties are great especially when it’s Sydney Sweeney and Kacey Musgraves. The single life seems to suit Kacey. But this episode wasn’t very good. Please Don’t Destroy didn’t even make me chuckle. The writers seem to have settled in a year long funk. The Tina Fey rescue team can’t get here fast enough.

- A cold open about Biden that featured a 3 second Biden impression.

- Weekend Update was basically 10 minutes of dunking on McConnell’s retirement.

- They keep doing this. Too many sketches about how young and hot the host is and they build every joke around that. Sweeney seems to have a pretty good sense of humor, but they didn’t give her much to work with.

- Airbnb interior decorators was mildly funny because it was so true.

- The slide deck in the monologue was pretty good.

WBT · March 3

Bud's performance was good. He really went for it with that sandwich.

Native Horn · March 3

I thought this was a very funny episode. Opening skit with the interns tracking down murderers was great. Maybe the hottest musical guest/host combo ever.

Rip76 · March 3

I haven't watched SNL in years.

Unfortunately I picked last night to start. Just bad, not funny.

Take this thing out and shoot it.

Red Five · March 3

1 hour ago, Native Horn said:

Maybe the hottest musical guest/host combo ever.

I actually put some thought into this. I think at one point in the 80s there was a Michelle Pfeiffer/Madonna show.

YGIFS · March 3

I think you're right.

It's been a very binary season, most up and down in the last several years. But I gotta say, Sweeney has more comedic chops than I thought. Writing wasn't great, but she's way funnier than I thought (I've only see in her White Lotus and the Stones video so admittedly, not a broad baseline). She's gonna have a helluva good career ahead of her.

Josh Brolin is gonna be one to watch because he can actually, genuinely act. Not just a handsome guy who can say lines. But he doesn't really have any funny bones in his body like his dad does. But I can see him completely and totally committing himself to the sketches a la an Adam Driver and just going all in. Looking forward to it.

Also, Sweeney's tits are just ridiculous.

Red Five · March 3

Whenever they have Sarah Sherman all dressed up, it always takes me a second. "Holy shit who is that? Oh yeah."

RPM · March 3

Timing / Direction of WU was off. But Ego's stingray was hilarious.

mdleast · March 4

Bill Hader shared a story about this sketch and it always makes me laugh:

As they were walking out, Josh Brolin goes ‘Well fellas, let’s shut these fuckers up.’

Rip76 · March 4

17 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Also, Sweeney's tits are just ridiculous.

Yes.

usmc0331horn · March 4

22 hours ago, Rip76 said:

I haven't watched SNL in years.

Unfortunately I picked last night to start. Just bad, not funny.

Take this thing out and shoot it.

The writing is beyond bad and there aren't even funny young stars on there except for maybe Bowen Yang. I've watched maybe two episodes this season.

'stache · March 4

I only watch clips and WU was great as usual, straight Bowen was funny, as was the AirBnB decorators. I have no idea who the host is, but she's quite attractive.

Davis Lane · March 4

22 hours ago, YGIFS said:

I think you're right.

It's been a very binary season, most up and down in the last several years. But I gotta say, Sweeney has more comedic chops than I thought. Writing wasn't great, but she's way funnier than I thought (I've only see in her White Lotus and the Stones video so admittedly, not a broad baseline). She's gonna have a helluva good career ahead of her.

Josh Brolin is gonna be one to watch because he can actually, genuinely act. Not just a handsome guy who can say lines. But he doesn't really have any funny bones in his body like his dad does. But I can see him completely and totally committing himself to the sketches a la an Adam Driver and just going all in. Looking forward to it.

Also, Sweeney's tits are just ridiculous.

Josh Brolin is actually a pretty funny guy. There are interviews of him with Ryan Reynolds where they are basically ripping on each other that are of great quality.

Red Five · March 4

Listening to Brolin on Smartless right now. He is funny.

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